


Childish Things

by saisei



Series: IgNoct Week 2019 [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Canonical Character Death, Comfort, Gen, Kid Fic, Magic, Pre-Canon, Soul Bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-25 23:04:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20033815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saisei/pseuds/saisei
Summary: Ignis is alwaystherefor Noct, a constant warmth in his thoughts. In his dreams he has Carbuncle to cuddle and to go off on adventures with; awake, he has Ignis.(IgNoct Week Day 1: "Comfort/Warm")





	Childish Things

Ignis is always _there_ for Noct, a constant warmth in his thoughts. In his dreams he has Carbuncle to cuddle and to go off on adventures with; awake, he has Ignis. He doesn't question it, any more than he'd question the air he breathes, and he doesn't talk about it, except to Ignis, when they try and play hiding games. Ignis can always, _always_ find Noct, no matter how good a hiding spot he has.

Those games are stupid, they both agree. Noct prefers the challenge of searching for fish and bugs and lizards, anything live that he can put in a box to take home to proudly show his father. Ignis likes looking at stars, telling Noct long stories about lore and science. He always falls asleep long before Ignis stops talking.

After Noct's attacked and injured, his father takes him to Tenebrae while Ignis remains in Insomnia. Ignis had told Noct it'd be an adventure, and he'd enjoy meeting Lunafreya and the Oracle. He'd asked Noct to send him a postcard with a picture of something _foreign_.

No one warned Noct that the train ride would hurt so much. He can't look out the windows because he has to lie down, but the sway of the train means he can't hold himself still in a bearable position. His father tries to help, but his hands are too hot and he does irritating things, like stroke Noct's hair.

Noct clings to Ignis' presence. It's very strange to feel him as close as always in his head, but know he's actually hundreds of kilometers away. Ignis tells him he'll take the pain, but Noct only does that when he needs to sleep. Mostly, he just holds on to Ignis' comforting presence. Even if Noct never runs again, he thinks, he'll just learn to feel Ignis' feet as they hit the ground, and the wind against his face.

The Oracle uses magic in her healing; it feels like a warm bath leeching out the tight wrongness that the daemon had branded into Noct's spine. Ignis can feel it, too, and he's happy for Noct.

Noct ought to have realized that if Ignis can sense the Oracle, she will most surely see him back.

She speaks of it to his father first, though, and Noct's only aware because Luna freezes in the paper-folding game she's teaching him, eyes going wide, and then turning to Gentiana and saying, "Mother's _furious_."

"It is the boy," Gentiana tells her, placid, as if Luna's distress affects her not at all. But then she adds a single word, "Go," and Luna jumps to her feet.

Noct's already turning his wheelchair towards the door.

It turns out there's a name for what Noct and Ignis have between them; it's not unique, which Noct finds galling. But neither is it for children, apparently. Noct's father is upset that he didn't know, and the Oracle is accusing him of... somehow making it happen? Noct doesn't follow, but what turns his insides to ice are his father's sharp words:

"But it won't become a problem because you can sever the bond, can you not?"

"No!" Noct cries. He's terrified and furious all at once, a great churning of unbearable emotion. "Don't you _dare_, I won't let you!"

He can feel Ignis' distress responding to his own fear, and curls his thoughts around him, like for once he's going to be the one protecting Ignis.

"Mother," Luna says. Her hands are on Noct's shoulders, imparting comfort but also keeping him from leaping up and undoing all her healing in an attempt to – attack? escape? 

The air crackles with magic, so much that Noct can't tell the boundaries are between his own and the others', and then with a clean flush of clear blue power it dissipates.

"That is more than enough," the Oracle says. She looks down at Noct and smiles. "This bond might be accidental, but I can see it's precious to you."

Noct nods, but he's shaking. He'd never before considered that the warmth and comfort he feels from Ignis could be taken away, rescinded; the raw feeling of vulnerability to that threat only grows when Tenebrae is attacked. The Oracle is dead, Luna and Ravus left behind to the enemy. On the long journey back to Insomnia, Noct practices not reaching out for Ignis; not _needing_ him. He lets a gulf grow between them. Eventually, he finds a new best friend.

But he's acutely aware of the bond's presence, like something persistent in his peripheral vision. Ignored but not broken, a warm hand always reaching out, there for him to take if he needs it. Growing up is supposed to hurt, he reminds himself. He's long since outgrown the need for such childish comfort.


End file.
